I usually like to kick off the month of January by talking about the season of snow. We discuss if we like or dislike the snow, what we like to do the most in and with the snow, and other activities that come along with the snow. The beginning of January is usually a time to hunker down for the big snow season that is upon us. However, this year proved to be a little different! While we completed our snow activities, our conversations were a little bit different! We all wondered if the snow would ever come. And I can say in my 9 years of teaching, I have never experienced such little snow. No snow days, delays, and only a few days of getting into our snow pants for the playground. Crazy! The kids wrote about whether or not they were "up" for winter, as well as completed a snowman glyph which told about how they feel about and relate to the snow.
Are you "UP" for winter?
We called the snow glyph activity, "Get to Snow Me." You can see the entire bulletin board and 2 close ups. I thought they came out pretty cute and I love how they are all a little different!
With all this snow talk, I also taught the children about the water cycle. It always ties in nicely during the winter months when there is a lot of precipitation. The kiddos learn some new scientific terms: precipitation, evaporation, and condensation. During this unit, they write a letter to Mr. Snowman letting him know that everything will be ok. They assure him that he will not be gone forever. They learn that, according to the water cycle, he has just melted and evaporated. However, they learn that with the next snowfall he may come back again. While they write this letter of reassurance, I encourage them to use these scientific terms.
In January we also did a 2 week polar animal unit. We extended our map skills from our holidays around the World unit, as we discussed the North Pole, the South Pole, and the Arctic, and the Antarctic. The students learned about the many different animals that live in both arctic regions. As we learned about each animal, the students completed a new section of their Polar animal lap-book. They read about the animals on an index card, collected all the cards in a special pocket of the lap book, and then completed the animal activity. Below you can see the finished product of these lap-books. I wish that I had some more close up pictures, but I think you'll get the idea!!
So... January came and went and the snow never really came. Before you knew it, we were into our shortest month of the year (this year by only a day), but one of the busiest months of all! Amongst our regular reading and math activities, we also celebrated groundhog day, worked on our Solids and Liquids science unit, celebrated the 100th day of school, learned about dental health, learned about the presidents (focusing on Lincoln and Washington), celebrated Valentines Day, and discussed what Leap Day means. Whew!! Amidst all of these wonderful learning experiences, we also had a week off. Needless to say, we were busy bees in room B4 during the month of February!
Each month I write the events for the month on the class calendar. The 100th day was written on the calendar for February 13, the day before our Valentine's Party. One day one of my cherubs raised her hand and asked, "If the 100th day is on the 13th, how are we going to have a Valentine's party?" I didn't quite understand her question, so after a little prodding I finally realized that she thought the 100th day was the last day of school! I just love that story because it shows just how literal first graders are. To them, 100 is the end. I explained that there are about 180 days in school, so we still have a ways to go! To celebrate the 100th day of school we did 100 day centers. At one center they were challenged to write 100 words! They roamed the classroom looking for any word to write on their clipboard. Take a look at a few of our finishers below...
At another center the kiddos used the numbers 1, 0, 0 to make any type of picture they wanted. I have to say, I was extremely impressed with the creativity this year!
There was a barbell,
a butterfly,
a pretzel stand,
a unicorn,
a heart,
a bike,
a skeleton key,
and a cardinal.
On Valentines Day the kids really enjoyed their ice cream sundaes and handing out their Valentines cards. We also had a great discussion about all of the things that we have "LOVED" learning about this year. The children traced their hands and glued 2 fingers down to make the "I love you" sign. Then they glued hearts to the palm of their hands and wrote about some of the learning experiences that they loved. The bulletin board came out pretty cute! It is definitely filled with lots of love!
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| "I loved learning about measuring." |
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| "I loved learning about addition." |
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| I loved learning about Polar Animals |
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| I loved learning about writing detail. |
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| I loved learning about Martin Luther King |
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| I loved learning about our School History |
After the February vacation, we spent some time learning about Dental Health. We did Dental Health Math, where the students determined how many baby teeth, or deciduous teeth, are left in their mouth by completing a subtraction sentence. They also determined how many more adult teeth, or permanent teeth, they still had to grow in their mouth. Then, I took an up-close picture of those pearly whites (or lack there of). Once the pictures were taken, I handed them out so that the kiddos could use them to complete their writing page. They wrote all about their smile. They described what their smile looks like and then wrote about what makes them smile. Students and adults that walk by in the hallway are invited to use the smile clues to guess who's mouths pictures are hanging. It has been a lot of fun! I will put the pictures and clues side by side to help you!
I think they turned out great!
Little Clark does not have any deciduous teeth yet! That would be 0+0=0 and 0-0=0. However, he sure did make a great Valentine!
Up next, Spring. Warm thoughts everyone!!
